Those of you who have ordered from us must've noticed the sticker sealing the paper in our boxes that reads Cha Qi. We gave no explanation with it because we wanted everyone to Google it, but a few of you have asked so we've decided to do a little write-up.
When you ask someone in the tea community to explain what Cha Qi is, and how you can tell when you're experiencing it, you'll often be met with a pause, followed by 'you'll just know'. In the tea community, the term Cha Qi is often used to describe teas that are incredibly complex and blow one's mind.
In traditional Chinese culture, 'Qi', (pronounced 'chee') is the life force in any and everything. Everything has Qi, from you to your cat, to your plant to your cup of tea. Cha Qi is therefore, the life force of tea. The Cha Qi of your tea can be anything from a blissful calmness to focused concentration to invigorating alertness to everything in between!
In Arabic, the word HAIYATEA sounds like 'Haiyati', which is a commonly used endearment that literally translates to 'My Life' which further made this brand very meant-to-be, because tea really is our life.
Cha Qi is essentially experiencing tea at its most fundamental level, which is completely in line with our brand ethos: we want people to pause, take a 5 minute break and actually experience the tea. Let's stop mindlessly dunking inferior quality teabags into scalding hot water, and then leaving it in for far too long, only to then gulp it down. Give yourself that 5 minute break and truly experience your tea.
Observe the dry leaf, watch it unfurl in the warm water, and the color of the liqueur deepen. Inhale the aroma, savor the taste and then observe the wet leaf. You'll thank yourself for stepping away from your devices long enough to appreciate and immerse yourself in nature (despite being indoors), and be more appreciative of the farmer whose labor of love in a cup (quite literally) rejuvenates you to get on with your day, or calms you for the night. Put succinctly, the better the tea the better the experience.
We really hope that you find the Cha Qi in every cup of HAIYATEA, so that when someone asks you what Cha Qi is, you can tell them "you'll just know".
